Priest with local tie convicted of sex abuse in Canada

Tuesday

Feb 26, 2013 at 12:01 AMFeb 27, 2013 at 9:41 AM

A Roman Catholic priest who once worked in central Ohio has been convicted in British Columbia, Canada, of sexually touching a person between the ages of 14 and 18. The Rev. Philip Jacobs was found guilty on Monday. He was acquitted on one count of sexual assault and two counts of sexually touching a person younger than 14.

JoAnne Viviano, The Columbus Dispatch

A Roman Catholic priest who once worked in central Ohio has been convicted in British Columbia, Canada, of sexually touching a person between the ages of 14 and 18.

The Rev. Philip Jacobs was found guilty on Monday. He was acquitted on one count of sexual assault and two counts of sexually touching a person younger than 14.

The Saanich News reported trial testimony that Jacobs ran his hand up and down the pants-clad leg of a boy he was tutoring at St. Joseph the Worker School in Saanich. The victim testified that he lay on a couch in the priest’s home with his legs over Jacobs’ lap and Jacobs’ hand touched his genitals, according to the newspaper.

Jacobs maintains that he unintentionally brushed the boy’s groin, said his attorney, Chris Considine.

Jacobs, 63, could be sentenced to five years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set. The verdict might be appealed, Considine said.

Jacobs served at St. Joseph the Worker School in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In central Ohio, he was at St. Anthony Parish on the North Side from 1975 to 1979, St. Philip the Apostle Parish on the East Side from 1979 to 1981, and St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Westerville from 1986 to 1989.

He also taught philosophy at the Pontifical College Josephinum on the Far North Side from 1986 to 1993.

During the trial in December and January, Jacobs testified that he took at least three teen boys on overnight trips when he worked in Ohio, intending to introduce them to masturbation.

When Jacobs was arrested on the Canadian charges in 2010, a spokesman for the Diocese of Columbus told The Dispatch that diocesan officials had received about 10 credible reports of abuse by Jacobs in central Ohio and that all allegations had been passed on to police.

To reach the Diocese of Columbus victims-assistance coordinator, call 614-224-2251 or 1-866-448-0217 or email helpisavailable@colsdioc.org.